Sandra startles before she whips around to glare at whoever spoke. I use the movement to my advantage and push her out of the doorway. I follow her out and shut the door behind us.
“What did you say?” she screeches.
I scan the lawn and notice we’ve got ourselves a crowd. Feather, Petal, Sage, Cayenne, and Clove are all standing there with their arms crossed over their chests. I’m surprised they don’t have pitchforks in their hands. Although, where would they find pitchforks in a hurry?
“I said,” Cayenne speaks slowly and enunciates her words, “he is not your husband.”
Sandra waves away her comment. “Husband, ex-husband, it’s all the same.”
“Um, no. It’s not,” I tell her.
She lifts an eyebrow and appraises me. “Don’t delude yourself into thinking you can make Rowan happy, my dear. I admit your country bumpkin outfit does have some charm, but I’m sure your relationship with my husband will be fleeting.”
Before I have a chance to ask her who she thinks she is, Sage speaks, “Because you’re the expert? How long were you married before he dumped you?”
Sandra snorts. “Rowan didn’t dump me. I don’t get dumped.”
Naturally. Ms. Perfect Face and Body would never get dumped.
“Only because you dump a man before he can dump you,” Clove says. The other women must agree since they high-five each other.
“I kindly ask you to keep your nose out of my business,” Sandra says primly.
“Lady, you made your divorce the world’s business when you tattled to the gossip columns. How much money did you earn for tattling anyway? Is telling secrets to the tabloids how you earn your money now?” Petal asks and thus begins another round of high-fives.
I clap my hands. “Ladies, ladies, why don’t you return to … whatever you were doing before you came here, and I’ll accompany Sandra to the bakery?”
Feather snorts. “We’re not going anywhere. Besides, Rowan will be here any minute.”
Great. This is exactly how I wanted to encounter Rowan the morning after the first time we have sex. He’s going to be reminded of everything Sandra is and everything I’m not. He won’t need any time at all to figure out he’s out of my league.
“Don’t you have a business to manage?” I ask Feather before my thoughts can spiral any further.
She grins. “Lunch break.”
“You run an ice cream shop. Lunch break is your rush hour.” Trust me, I know. I’ve spent enough lunch hours trying to handle the mass of tourists demanding a scoop of homemade frozen delight.
“It’s the middle of the week and tourist season is over.”
Dang it. She’s not wrong. I turn to Sage. Surely, she needs to get back to the police station.
“I’m on my lunch break,” she says before I can speak. “Stop trying to get us to leave. It’s not going to happen.”
I sigh. I don’t know why I bothered. “Whatever,” I mutter before returning to the problem I can deal with. I hope.
“Let me grab my purse and I’ll walk you over to the bakery.”
“Sorry, Ashlyn, I can’t let you walk to the bakery,” Cayenne says. “Rowan will kill us if he knows we let you walk that far.”
“Far? From what I’ve seen, this town is tiny. I’m sure she can walk the block needed.”
From what she’s seen? Hasn’t Sandra been here before? Winter Falls is Rowan’s hometown. They were married. Didn’t he bring her home to meet his parents? Granted his parents are now retired and live in Florida in a house Rowan bought for them, but they only relocated two years ago after Rowan was forced to retire early from the NFL. Sandra and Rowan were married until two years ago.
“She has a broken ankle,” Cayenne explains.
Sandra glances down at my feet. She must notice the boot on my foot. It’s hard to miss after all. She looks around before noticing the golf cart. “We can use the cart.”
“You are not going anywhere with Ash,” Rowan growls as he rushes to the porch.
How did I miss his approach? Oh yeah, I was preoccupied by Ms. Sunshine here.
I glance around the lawn and notice Aspen has arrived as well. She waves at me and gives me a thumbs-up. Why is she giving me a thumbs-up? This is a disaster.
“Show’s over!” Rowan glares at the crowd on the lawn. Does he seriously expect them to give up and leave? Not likely.
“I’ll just …” I wave toward the inside of the house and retreat before either one of them has a chance to stop me.
I move as fast as my boot will allow to the bedroom. I stare at the messed up sheets on the bed where I made love to Rowan last night. I hope I committed every single detail to memory since it was probably the first and last time I’ll have him in my bed.
I shut myself in the bedroom and turn on the fan before I succumb to my tears.